Friday (early), it was back to Ireland for Christmas. Kudos to me for getting up in time! Well.. all went fine until I got to Heathrow. See, I'd already checked in - but Aer Lingus, with whom I'd booked, charge you to bring on the case - so I hadn't paid the extra, and therefore had to check it in. And oh lordy, what a disconcerting sight was the queue.. wasn't like this at all the last time!
So, I was about halfway through, and thinking to myself how slowly it was going, and how time was advancing, and how close the gate was to closing.. and then there was some announcement for passengers for Shannon - but I didn't hear it. So I made an executive decision, excused myself out of the queue, and joined the adjacent, priority queue. There were two check-in assistants - when the one at the adjoining queue (which I'd just left) finished with her current passenger, she turned to me (I was now second in the priority queue). So I trotted over to her, explaining that I was for Shannon - and lickety-split, I was in. After having to go through the e-gates - those in Stansted don't take your picture, you know, and I'd forgotten how those in Heathrow often don't like glasses. Well, after all that, my flight was delayed - which was fine, apart from that brief period when it disappeared from the departures board! The delay was only an hour, in the end.
Oh, lovely.. this was one of the longhaul aircraft, with individual entertainment screens! and I'd brought my headphones, with the intention of listening to my audiobook. I checked out the movies, none of which were familiar - so I looked at the music selection. And lo, whatever was first up - but a U2 concert, from Hammersmith, in 1982.. So that was me sorted, then! As someone remarked afterwards, the flight can't have been long enough for me at all.. As to the delay, turned out it had to be de-iced. In Shannon..?! Now, as it was flying on to Boston, perhaps it had come from there the night before: which, with the weather they've been having, would explain that..
Since then, would you believe, nothing decent for me in the cinemas - until I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the Whitney Houston biopic, opened today! Stars Stanley Tucci as her record producer. So I went to see it in Ennis. And wow, for all that the cinema was open - it was almost the only thing that was! which was good for parking, at least..
I had to queue behind a crowd of teenage girls, one or two adults accompanying. Naturally, they were going to the same film - in fact, I ended up sitting right in front of them! Which was fine, except for the odd flurry of teenage energy, which rocked my seat. Anyway. Now, you might know that Whitney Houston was known as The Voice - and with good reason; she had a terrific range, a powerful delivery. Which begs the question - who on earth could reproduce that for the biopic?
That would be one Naomi Ackie. Now, as you might expect - no, she doesn't really do the singing: well, not the full performances, anyway. Seems she does sing the snatches where the character is considering a song, trying it out.. But she absolutely nails the mannerisms, and you really wouldn't know the performances themselves aren't hers. So, that's actually Whitney we're hearing! and boy, what a tribute. I was literally moved to tears a couple of times. And what a sad story it is - plagued by a father who insisted on managing her, then threw all her money away, so she was forced to tour incessantly: and a husband who cheated on her persistently. Small wonder she ended up overdosing on drugs, and accidentally drowning in the bath.
But don't think it's a depressing film - my, it was good to hear all the old songs: and I did know most! So - recommended, for the sake of listening to the music. And realising how very good she actually was.
Later tonight, I ended up watching The Notebook on tv, a real weepie of a romance between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams (their older versions played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands, respectively), for whom the path of true love certainly doesn't run smooth. I defy anyone to watch this without a tear in their eye..
Yep, that's it now until I go back to London - that exhausted the available list of films. I fly back next Monday - and on the 3rd, am also thinking of film. But the listings aren't out yet - so that'll have to come as a surprise. To us all.
On the 4th, back with the London Horror Book Club - for an actual book club meeting! Yes, I'll have to bite the bullet and get around to reading something by then - specifically, The Silent Companions, by Laura Purcell. Happily, it's a short one - and the free Kindle sample I got from Amazon, and finished, has already covered about 1/3 of it! So, seems doable - it's a Gothic novel, in which a young lady, newly widowed, comes to her late husband's brooding family estate for the first time. Set in 1865, it keeps referring back to the supposed origin of the mystery that unfolds, in the 1600s. Anyway, our discussion will be in the Prince of Wales, quite close to me. This group obligingly holds an online version of all their in-person Meetups, on the day after!
And on the 5th, I'm with a new group - Shanty Singers Colliers Wood - who seem to exist to advertise free shanty singing concerts. That night, it's in The William Morris. Should be fun!
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